Fine-scale Focal Dtag Behavioral Study of Diel Trends in Activity Budgets and Sound Production of Endangered Baleen Whales in the Gulf of Maine

Abstract

The primary goal of this project is to obtain fine-scale behavior data from two endangered baleen whale species, the humpback whale (Megaptera novaengliae) and the right whale (Eubalaena glacialis), on the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary through suction-cup attachment of sound and orientation recording tags (Digital Archival Tag - Dtag), which records subsurface movements and sound production by the whale. The specific objectives of this three year study are to use these tag data to: 1) determine the diel trends in dive profiles and horizontal movement patterns for tagged humpback and right whales on the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary; 2) determine the sound production behavior of individual tagged humpback and right whales on the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary; and 3) examine the relationship among anthropogenic noise, conspecific sounds, and tagged whale behavior for humpback and right whales on the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2008
Accession Number
ADA505206

Entities

People

  • David N Wiley
  • Susan E. Parks

Organizations

  • Pennsylvania State University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acoustic Detection
  • Animals
  • Attachment
  • Computer Graphics
  • Data Sets
  • Deployment
  • Detection
  • Frequency
  • Mammals
  • Marine Mammals
  • Monitoring
  • New Hampshire
  • Production
  • Sampling
  • Spatial Distribution
  • Universities
  • Whales

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Marine Mammal Biology